Episode 1 : The Chinese, our Ancestors
The Chinese were the ones to first invent paper, which was an invention that changed the entire world. In addition, they also made some dangerous inventions, as gunpowder, guns, missiles and other terrible weapons. The Chinese also were the ones to first try out and fly with some simple kites, and this is how the dream of flying began. Later, the brothers Montgolfier and in modern times Lindbergh made this dream come true. Maestro is saying the right thing at the end of the episode: Inventions can mean progress, but also danger or misfortune. It always depends on the people and if they make the best of it or not.
Episode 2 : Archimeds and the Greek
In today’s episode, Maestro invites us on a journey to ancient Greece. Even several centuries before Common Era, some imaginative discoverers and inventors lived and worked there. One example would be Hippocrates and the medicine, Socrates and the philosophy, Phidias and the statuary, Sophocles, Euripides, Protagoras, Demokrit and many others. And then there was Archimedes, and squaring the circle…
Episode 3 : Hero from Alexandria
In the beginning of today’s episode, we make the acquaintance of Aristotle. He established the peripatetic school. The idea of the school is for the student to learn as he walks around. Next, we get to know Alexander the Great, who was tutored by Aristotle as well, and who would conquer Egypt and found the city of Alexandria. Besides that, we also meet Ctesibius , an engineer, who would invent a magnificent water meter, and also pumps, the thermometer and the first air gun among many other things. Another new acquaintance will be Ptolemy. He would manage to create and draw extremely accurate maps. Another genius accrues from the school of Alexandria: Heron. He would invent a forerunner of the steam engine.
Episode 4 : The measuring of Time
This time, we’re taking a closer look on the history of the clock – from the sundial to the atomic and quartz clock. It all began with the sundial. The disadvantage of that one was that it couldn’t work at night. That’s when the idea of a water meter was developed. Also sand showed itself to be suitable for measuring time. Charlemagne was owner of the largest hourglass of the world. Only after 12 hours it needed to be turned around again, and to do so, it took some rather strong men. Furthermore, candle clocks, oil clocks and clepsydras were still in use, which had been perfectly developed by the Chinese.
Episode 5 : Henry the Navigator and Cartography
Until the medieval times, it was Ptolemy’s maps which were considered to be the bible of every navigator at sea. They said, the person who didn’t take note of those maps would end up as the victim of some cruel and gigantic sea monsters or be sucked down to the ground of the oceans. Henry, the third son of King John of Portugal, disagreed. When he invaded the Moroccan town of Ceuta with his army in 1425, he heard curious stories about a land situated on the banks of the Senegal River…
Episode 6 : Gutenberg and Writing
In Europe, it was Johannes Gutenberg who invented printing with moveable characters. His name is inseparable connected with two cities: Mainz and Strasbourg. At first, Gutenberg needed to solve the problem of developing characters and printing plates that were more useful for printing than traditional utilities.
Episode 7 : Leonardo da Vinci, a Jack-of-all-Trades
In Master Verrocchio's workshop, the young Leonardo studied painting and sculpture, but he soon discovered even more talent: he designed plans of towns, roads, bridges and fortifications. It was soon very clear that he was quite an all-rounder. Lorenzo da Medici, who helped and supported many artists, didn’t like da Vinci very much though. Disappointed, he left for Milan…
Episode 8 : Doctors (Paracelse, Vesale, Pare, etc…)
A headache happens every once in a while – and is treated easily with a pill. In former times though, as we’re told by Maestro, it wasn’t all that simple. The head of the patient would be opened up, because it was thought that there were small animals living in the head that caused all the pain. Already, we’re witnessing the development of medicine. Starting with the Chinese, we come across Babylonia, Egypt and ancient Greece. It was Hippocrates who first investigated disease and its healing in an intense and scientific way…
Episode 9 : Galileo
We get to know young Galileo in Pisa, where he grows up. One day he’s standing on top of the Leaning Tower with a friend and they wonder if his friend would touch the ground first if they jumped, because he is much more corpulent. Many years later, Galileo would find the answer. 1578, he signs up for Anatomy classes at the university of Pisa. One day, while visiting a church, he notices a candleholder whose movement was caused by air draft. He is doing some research about this movement and soon invents the pendulum…
Episode 10 : Newton
Maestro explains that it only became possible for astronauts to move in space thanks to the brilliant discoveries and calculations of a certain Sir Isaac Newton. As a little boy, Isaac tended the sheep of his father. Even at that young age, his amazing talent for inventing became obvious. He developed several machines, invented water meters and constructed some elaborate kites. At his father’s farm, he developed his theory of light. One day, an apple falls from a tree right onto his head. That’s when he suddenly has an idea of the gravitation theory.
Episode 11 : Buffon discovers the Past
Let’s remember: Galileo showed that the earth is rotating around the sun. Newton discovered the law of gravitation. And then there was an Irish bishop named James Ussher who claimed that he knew the exact birth date of our planet earth from his calculations with the bible… He said the earth exists since October 29, 4004 B.C. It was Georges Louis de Buffon, a French scientist, who demonstrated the foolishness of this calculation. Today we know when the first life-forms arose, how life spread from the water to the land and how more complex forms developed over time.
Episode 12 : Lavoisier
“It’s very hot today“. This is how Maestro starts his story and today he invites us to a journey through chemistry. There is one name, which is inseparable connected to this science: Lavoisier. At the age of 17, he occupied himself with the phenomenon “heat”. He tried to find a way to improve the nocturnal illumination of Paris. At the age of 25 he became member of the Royal Academy of Sciences. He found out that air is a combination of gases…
Episode 13 : Stephenson and Co
The power of steam was known already at the time of Hero of Alexandria, but people didn’t know how to use it properly back then. Only in the 17th century, a certain Denis Papin would solve this problem. Thanks to him we have the so-called vapor pressure cooking pot. Other scientists, too, engaged in the phenomenon of steam over and over again. First there was Newcomen, and then later James Watt, but it was the scientist Stephenson who built his steam engine “Killingworth” on wheels. This was the birth of the locomotive…
Episode 14 : Faraday and Electricity
Today, Maestro chose the topic “electricity” for his lecture. The first contact of human beings with this mysterious phenomenon definitely was the stroke of lightning. This mystical power would remain a riddle to the people for a long time, until a certain Michael Faraday would solve it. He was born in the early 19th century as the son of a poor blacksmith. Already at a very young age, he was noticeably curious and thirsty for knowledge. His many experiments with some self-induced explosions astounded his parents and surroundings. Very soon Faraday discovered that a magnet in motion causes electrical currents. Untiringly he kept doing research, looking for an explanation for this phenomenon.
Episode 15 : Darwin
1860. Bishop Wilberforce is mocking Charles Darwin’s theories in an assembly: “So the man originates from the ape? Impossible! That would mean Darwin’s grandparents must have been apes themselves!” Charles Darwin had just published his famous book about the evolution of the species. No doubt: Man is no direct descendant of the ape. But we know today, thanks to Darwin, that we have common roots with the apes and that we’re quite narrowly related to them.
Episode 16 : Mendel and the Peas
In this episode, Maestro will tell us the story of a man who succeeded in identifying and expressing the laws of genetics: Gregor Mendel. When he was a little boy, his father taught him how to cultivate fruit-bearing trees by grafting. Already, he started wondering… Why do some trees have particularly beautiful fruits? Why are some sheep bigger and stronger than others? And, most importantly: What are the rules when certain features of parents are passed on to their children and others aren’t?
Episode 17 : Pasteur and the Micro-Organisms
In the 19th century, the French scientist Louis Pasteur made the groundbreaking discovery that the earth is full of microscopically small organisms. Pasteur also found out that some of them cause serious disease as for example diphtheria, pest, typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, tuberculosis, influenza and rabies. It was a revolutionary discovery for that time. Pasteur investigated how those diseases are transmitted and what hygiene has to do with it.
Episode 18 : Edison and applied Sciences
In today’s episode, Maestro tells the story of one of the greatest inventors of all times: Thomas Alva Edison. He was born in Milan, Ohio, in 1847. Edison was a curious child. He devoured an impressive number of the most difficult books about science. His enthusiasm for chemistry experiments caused several explosions and shattered windows. During his lifetime, he filed 1300 patents. Among many other inventions he improved Graham Bell’s telephone, developed the phonograph and a film projector. Still, his greatest invention by far was the electric bulb, which would enlighten the entire world.
Episode 19 : Marconi and the Waves
“Transmission” is today’s keyword when Maestro starts telling his story. He describes the adventurous methods of the Egyptians to carry information, and those of the Greek, and mentions the Indians with their smoke signals. But not until the end of the 19th century, an Italian would succeed in discovering the transmission by means of waves. Guglielmo Marconi was born in Bologna in 1874. He developed a wireless bell…
Episode 20 : Ford and the Automobile
In the beginning, Maestro arrives in a real veteran car, which already introduces today’s topic: the automobile. The invention of the wheel brought groundbreaking progress for the people, but not until the late 19th century, the American Henry Ford would develop the first car. Today, it is hard to imagine a life without cars.
Episode 21 : Aircraft
Man’s eternal dream – to fly! Maestro tells us about Icarus, with his self-made wings which melted in the sun and caused him to crash. Then there was Clément Ader, who built a steam-powered flight machine which was developed based on the principles of the wings of a bat. Furthermore he tells us about Otto Lilienthal and the glider, and the Wright brothers who developed and constructed airplanes. In 1908, the Frenchman Blériot crossed the English Channel. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh succeeded in crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The dream of flying had been fulfilled.
Episode 22 : Marie Curie
Maestro’s story starts in Poland, more precisely Warsaw in 1867. On November 7, a little girl is born: Marie Sklodowska, who made history as Madame Curie. In 1891, Marie leaves for Paris to go to university, which isn’t possible for women in Poland at that time. She studies Physics and Mathematics and makes the acquaintance of her future husband, the physician Pierre Curie. For the next years, she is busy investigating the mysterious rays that Henri Becquerel discovered. At some point, she succeeds in gaining a substance out of pitchblende, which shows radiation: radium. She calls it “radioactive radiation”.
Episode 23 : Einstein
1945. An American airplane drops the first atomic bomb upon the Japanese city of Hiroshima. An awful event! On the path of the technical and scientific development to make this possible is a noteworthy and convinced pacifist: Albert Einstein. Maestro tells us about his childhood in Munich. Later Einstein went to Zurich and studied Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. At the age of 21 he discovered one of the most meaningful formulas of physics: E=mc². Mass can be transformed into energy, according to the formula. Only a few years later, Einstein formulated his famous theory of relativity. This was revolutionary. He pointed out that time is no constant physical value.
Episode 24 : Lorenz, Father Goose
Young Lorenz discovered his love for animals at a very young age. At his parents’ house in Altenberg, Austria, where he grew up, were plenty of them: dogs, monkeys, geese, ducks and many more. At first, Lorenz investigated the behavior of jackdaws, which he raised in a natural environment. He observed their courtship behavior, the pairing, hatching of their eggs and their fledglings’ first flight. Then he accompanied the geese and found out that it’s their mother’s call that binds the young animals to her. Lorenz imitated that call and thus he became father goose himself.
Episode 25 : Armstrong and the Moon
In Ancient Greece it was thought that a ship could be catapulted up to the moon by means of a tornado. The first person to have the idea that this would only be possible with a controlled rocket drive was the Russian Ziolkowsky. He made very precise calculations, but nobody believed him at his time. Not until 1945, the technical development was ready for a race to the moon between the Americans and the Russians. Gagarin was the first man in space, Leonov went floating in space and finally in 1965, Armstrong as the first person on earth set his foot upon the ground of the moon.
Episode 26 : Tomorrow is at our Doorstep
The children ask Maestro: What else is there for mankind to invent, after all those countless discoveries, now that even the moon has been visited? Maestro lists several of the unsolved questions: the origin of life, the source of matter, the unendingly small things, the secret of the cosmos and many more. And nobody, says Maestro, knows what the world will look like tomorrow.
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